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NBN Co

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Not to be confused with NBN (TV station).

NBN Co Limited
Company typeState-owned enterprise
IndustryTelecommunications
Founded9 April 2009 (2009-04-09)
Headquarters
Melbourne,[1] Australia
Key people
  • Philip Knox, interim CEO
  • Kate McKenzie, chair and non-executive director
ServicesWholesale data network
RevenueA$5.5 billion[2] (2024)
A$141 million[2] (2024)
A$-1.2 billion[2] (2024)
Total assetsA$38.77 billion[2] (2024)
Total equity$-3.76 billion[2] (2024)
OwnerAustralian Government
Members8.61 million[2] (2024)
Number of employees
4,354[2] (2024)
Websitenbnco.com.au

NBN Co Limited, known as simply nbn, is a state-owned corporation of the Australian Government, tasked to design, build and operate Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) as the nation's wholesale broadband provider. The corporation reports to two shareholder ministers: the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Communications.[3]

History

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NBN Co was established on 9 April 2009 under the name of its company number, "ACN 136 533 741 Limited".[4] After the establishment, the Australian Government started referring to the company as "National Broadband Network Company",[5] which became the de facto company name. It was officially named "NBN Co Limited" on 6 October 2009.[6][7][8][9] It traded as "NBN Co" until 26 April 2015 when it began trading simply as "nbn".[10]

In 2019, NBN Co announced that by May 2020[11] retail service providers will be able to pool all their connectivity virtual circuit (CVC) bandwidth nationally.

In February 2020, the company announced that 6.7 million homes and businesses were connected to a plan over the nbn access network – compared with 4.9 million in February 2019.[12]

NBN Co developed a satellite internet program named Sky Muster aimed at rural areas. As of July 2023, over $620 million had been invested.[13] However, the program experienced fierce competition from Starlink satellites. Sky Muster consists of two geosynchronous satellites orbiting over 35,000 km above Earth's surface, resulting in latency times around 600 milliseconds (at 25 Mbps), compared to Starlink's latency of below 40 milliseconds (for 100-200 Mbps).[14]

In February 2017, CEO Bill Morrow stated that there is no significant demand for wired connections above 25 Mbit/s and consideration of upgrading the network will not be undertaken until demand for high-bandwidth services is proven.[15]

In August 2019, CEO Stephen Rue, announced the completion of the $51 billion National Broadband Network by June 2020.[16] However, some service areas were still being rolled out in 2020 and 2021 with FTTP to properties with FTTN or FTTC.

On 6th May 2024, CEO Stephen Rue announced his departure from the company to take the CEO position at Optus.[17]

NBN and retail service providers

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The NBN network, at 2022, draws together wired communication (copper, optical and hybrid fibre-coaxial) and radio communication (satellite and fixed wireless networks) at 121 points of interconnect typically located in Telstra owned telephone exchanges throughout Australia. NBN Co also sells access for mobile telecommunication backhaul to mobile telecommunications providers.[18]

At 30 June 2016, Telstra had 45.5%, TPG group had 24.8% and Optus had 12.4% of all end users connecting to the NBN.[19]

There has been a significant failure of the nbn to deliver nominal performance to end users. There has been contention between RSPs and NBN on the reasons for this. Bill Morrow, then CEO of NBN Co, admitted in 2017 that 15% of end users received a poor service through the NBN and were 'seriously dissatisfied'.[20] In addition, Morrow indicated that, at July 2017, prices and performance for end users were suppressed through a 'price war' between RSPs.[21][22]

Contractual arrangements

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NBN Co contracts mainly with RSPs to provide wholesale broadband access, with limited supply of backhaul to other organisations (for example providing backhaul services to Vodafone).[18]

References

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  1. ^ "NBN Co Limited". Australian Government Directory. Australian Government. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 2024 Annual Report (PDF). NBN Co Limited (Report). 6 August 2024. pp. 6, 7, 85, 152, 153, 154, 228. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  3. ^ Annual Report 2009–2010 (PDF). NBN Co (Report). Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  4. ^ NBN Co Limited, Organisations & Business Names, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, archived from the original on 9 October 2024, retrieved 2 June 2011
  5. ^ LeMay, Renai; Tindal, Suzanne (27 April 2009), NBN company established, looks for CEO, ZDNet, archived from the original on 9 October 2024, retrieved 1 June 2011
  6. ^ LeMay, Renai (7 October 2009), It's official: 'NBN Co. Ltd' is the name, ZDNet, archived from the original on 9 October 2024, retrieved 1 June 2011
  7. ^ Beer, Stan (7 April 2009), NBN to make 49% up for grabs but who wants it?, iTWire, archived from the original on 3 April 2011, retrieved 1 June 2011
  8. ^ Tindal, Suzanne (1 May 2009), NBN company constitution revealed, ZDNet, retrieved 1 June 2011
  9. ^ LeMay, Renai (30 April 2009), NBN company details hard to find, ZDNet, archived from the original on 9 October 2024, retrieved 1 June 2011
  10. ^ Ramli, David (25 April 2015), "NBN Co spends $700,000 to drop 'Co'", The Sydney Morning Herald, archived from the original on 25 August 2018, retrieved 27 April 2015
  11. ^ Crozier, Ry. "NBN Co to allow internet providers to pool CVC nationally". iTnews. Archived from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  12. ^ "Monthly Progress Report February 2020" (PDF). nbnco.com.au (Press release). Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2024.
  13. ^ Bonyhady, Nick; Baird, Lucas (6 July 2023). "NBN aims to match Elon Musk's Starlink but may have to write off $620m". The Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  14. ^ Biggs, Tim (7 July 2023). "Telstra's Starlink deal could signal a new era of connectivity in hard-to-reach places". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  15. ^ Battersby, Lucy (1 March 2017) [28 February 2017]. "Gigabit per second speeds aren't needed yet, NBN Co boss Bill Morrow says". The Age. Archived from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  16. ^ Ryan, Peter (15 August 2019). "NBN will be complete by mid-2020 within revised budget, says CEO Stephen Rue". ABC News. Archived from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  17. ^ Corstorphan, Max (6 May 2024). "NBN chief executive resigns: Stephen Rue to depart as he is named new CEO of Optus". The Nightly. Archived from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  18. ^ a b Pearce, Rohan (3 February 2017). "Vodafone first telco to use NBN for mobile coverage boost". Computerworld. Archived from the original on 19 June 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  19. ^ Crozier, Ry (22 September 2016). "Three ISPs take 83 percent of NBN market". itnews. Archived from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  20. ^ Smith, Michael; Boyd, Tony (24 July 2017). "NBN to review pricing as part of image problem fix". The Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  21. ^ Whigham, Nick (28 July 2017). "NBN embarks on charm offensive to address confusion and complaints". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  22. ^ Crozier, Ry (31 July 2017). "NBN Co boss declares war with internet providers: Blames ISPs for performance problems". ITNews. Archived from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
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